The World According To Rob Hotline

Thank you. Thank you all! Another $328.00 in the bank for the kids, bringing our three day total to just shy of 1500.00 (with our sponsor and the Donating Drummer)! Remember we are still collecting Monday with the lovely and talented Ms. Barbara! Please come show her your support! Again, thanks to @kidcapitale and all of you out there. You are simply the best!

xxoo

What an incredible night! Thank you to all of you for your kind and very generous support! Tonight La Capitale banked $353.00 PLUS the matching funds of $300.00 for a one night total of $653.00 Not a bad night if you ask me! Again, a huge thank you to our wonderful, yet shy, sponsor! We have now passed the $1000.00 total mark and still have two days to go. This is turning out to be a great year…. Because of YOU! Thank YOU!

What a night! Just getting home and I’m bushed. You kids really did it up right tonight! When all was said and done La Capitale and Bar Andaluz has collected $392.00 for Tips for Tots! What a wonderful opening night! I couldn’t be happier, and I have all of you to thank for it! A great start on our quest, and remember tonight December 2 is match night. Our very special sponsor is matching everything we make up to $300.00 AND @MarkPowers the www.DonatingDrummer.com is donating $150.00 from his first gig this month so we have the potential to make $1000.00  I can’t thank you enough for all you have done so far. Thank you for all the retweets, the kind words, the good wishes AND the money! A very special thank you to @kidcapitale for hosting this project for a second year! In addition to being a pretty fair chef ( wink, wink) he is also a great person.

Again, I thank you. Christmas is going to be a whole lot better this year for a number of people (warm clothes, full tummies, a toy or two) because of YOU! Thank you!

Great news on the Tips for Tots program starting December first. An absolutely wonderful person has come forward as a matching donor for December second! For every dollar we bring in she/he will match it up to $300.00 By request said person asks that no details about him/her be given. That being said we have the potential to raise $600.00 in one night! And if that were not enough the wonderful Donating Drummer @markpowers www.thedonatingdrummer.com - www.amaloboozi.com has selected Tips for Tots as his recipient for the month of December!

I am absolutely overwhelmed at the generosity of these two people. Neither are large corporations. Neither one has huge financial backing. Neither are gaining anything from this except knowing they did something to help children in need this Christmas. How great is that!

Please join with us and make a difference in a child’s life this year. Tips for Tots runs December 1 2 3 and 5. We look forward to seeing you at La Capitale and Bar Andaluz.

And to my two sponsors: Thank you. You have no idea how much good shall come of this. I thank you with all my heart.

Please, Please, Re-Tweet!

Well, it’s that time of year again. Beautiful children waking to find Santa has somehow missed their house, tummies aching with hunger and even basic needs not being met. Mothers and Fathers having to face that they can’t stop the pain their children are feeling today. Days are hard when you have few resources. The Holidays are especially tough when you are in crisis. Hundreds of children in our community are in crisis right now.

You can help. I founded Tips for Tots 14 years ago to help ease the memory of my best friend being missed by Santa at the age of 5. The good news is, it didn’t work. I still remember Frank and it has challanged me on to help as many children as possible. The bad news is there are more children than we have resources for. We need your help. Tips for Tots is comprised of a group of people not motivated by tax credits or thank you cards. We are, generally speaking, people that just want to help others in need. 

Tips for Tots provides toys, food, and clothing for those in desperate need during the Holidays. The way that we do this is really very simple. As food service workers most of us rely heavily on tips to make a living. With Tips for Tots we choose one shift to work for the children. The money that we receive in tips goes into a fund to purchase the much needed items for kids and their families. That’s it; no magic. We donate directly into the community using the Union Gospel Mission and The Mid Valley Women’s Crisis Service as our donation directors. Through them we are able to take requests for the most needed items. We try to have no direct contact with the families we help. We are not working for thanks, we are working so that a child will have the joy of a Merry Christmas. 

Over the past 14 years we have raised better than $33,000 and helped some 8500 people have a better day (perhaps even a better life). The challenge grows harder each year. As times get tougher, more children are in crisis. Many families find themselves out of work and perhaps even out of home. That being said, I am happy to announce that for it’s 15th season Tips for Tots is alive and well and ready to help those in need. With our most gracious hosts for the second year being La Capitale and Bar Andaluz. Our goal is to raise $3000.00 this year. We would like to thank them in advance for their kind and very generous support. 

The program will run December 1, 2, 3 and 5. I will personally donate all of my tips during this period and at least one other server per shift will donate as well. This is where you come in. Without you, we are nothing (true anytime of year).  We ask that you think of us when making your choices in dining out. Please consider dining at either (or both) during this time period. Remember that this is voluntary; you do not have to tip us- but if you choose to, and we hope you will, we will be putting your tip to good use. 

You can make reservations for La Capitale via its website www.LaCapitaleSalem.com or through www.opentable.com or phone 503 585 1975 La Capitale is located at 508 State St. Salem, Or.  Bar Andaluz accepts walk in seating only, it is located at 130 High Street SE Salem, Or.

I will update this blog everyday during the event to keep you posted on our progress. We will also post photos of our shopping trip as it occurs. Thank you very much for taking the time to consider this. If you can help, please do. If you need help please contact UGM or MVWCS and we will do our very best to help. You can contact me with any questions at www.robdrinkenstein.com or via twitter @robdrinkenstein. Please feel free to post this to facebook, circles, re-tweet, tape this to a water cooler, anything you can think of to help us get the word out. We need all the help we can get!

My friend Arron lost his battle with Cancer at the age of 43 leaving three babies. Mike succumbed to a heart attack after surviving the surgery. My best friend Frank Brown was somehow missed by Santa Claus in 1968. Sure, was not death, but to a 5 year old it sure felt like it. What these have in common is they all hurt. The difference is we can help prevent some of them from happening to others. 

Thirteen years ago I founded Tips for Tots. It is a program for those of us in the restaurant business to give back.  An old friend used to say restaurant workers always have cash, but seldom have money. True, for the most part, but this is where cash really comes in handy. The idea is that we all donate one shift worth of tips to buy toys, clothing, and food for local children in need this Christmas.  Since inception we have raised over $30,000 and purchased thousands of much needed items for those less fortunate than us. At last count we have helped over 8000 children and families through difficult times with food, clothing, and toys. This is not a tax write off-see how good we are- send us thank you cards for our resume deal. There is no contact with the people that we help by us. We leave distribution to the Women’s Crisis Center and the Union Gospel Mission with the understanding that if asked where the gifts come from they are to answer Santa Claus. This is a wake up Christmas morning knowing one less child is suffering from hunger, is cold, or has had to face the harsh reality of Santa “missing” his/her house (if they are lucky enough to have one) because YOU helped.

I am happy to announce La Capitale and Andaluz will be hosting the event this year, running December 16, 17, 18. I will donate all of my tips for all three nights plus there will be at least one server every shift working for the kids. Please understand this is volunteer only. No one has to do this, we choose to. Our goal is to raise $2000.00 for local children. Please come join us and make a difference this Holiday season. Also please re-tweet this, post it on your Facebook, tape a copy on the water cooler, whatever you can do so it can reach as many people as possible. We welcome anyone that would like to participate to do so! You don’t have to be in the restaurant business! I can be reached through Twitter as @RobDrinkenstein. Many of us have so much to be thankful for, please share it with those that really need some help this Holiday Season. To make reservations for the event please call La Capitale 503-585-1975 or visit www.opentable.com 

Thank you and know I am thankful for each and every one of you! 

You’re a really good bartender. You know, old school, a real bartender. But you’re not a total douche about it.

“I just want you to know that he loved you. That, and his last words were God Dammit”.

Shine on Mike, shine on. 

I don’t believe that “God” calls you home. I don’t believe in the “divine plan”. I don’t believe everyones “time to go” is predetermined. This is not to say I do not believe in God. I do believe in God. I also believe in Guru Nanuk, Buddha, Krishna, Vishnu, Ra, Allah, Mohammed, Jesus Christ, the Dali Lama, and almost every other incarnation except Joseph Smith.

I also believe that bad things happen to good people. Children die of cancer, old men fight their way through surgery and then fall to a heart attack for no apparent reason, and I miss my friends. One takes his life, as another fights (and loses) for his. This can’t be what “God” had in mind. If it is, count me out. My God is kinder and gentler than this. Sometimes shit just happens and all I can do is cry. My God did not call them home to Jesus. And I think that sometimes my God hurts just as much as I do about how all this plays out. At least I would like to think so.

Shine on Mike, shine on. Thank you for being so great to my children. This is to me the true test of a person, how they treat children.  And Mike you were the best with my kids. God Dammit.

Note to self about blogging:

If you intend to write a blog that anyone cares even remotely about, you really need to learn to take notes. Perhaps they will want to know more than that the show was great, Alejandro still has his edge, David Pulkingham is perhaps the greatest unknown guitar player I have ever seen, and yes, Hector is still on drums 26 years later.

Then again this may be enough. The show was great, the crowd was a disappointment; not those of us that were there, but by lack of sheer volume. I mean really, this guy is a Legend (with a capital L) in the world of punk rock and Portland Oregon can only come up with 200 in attendance? Sad, very sad.

I urge you to go to u-tube, google, bing, whatever and check him out and then… Go to Ranch Records (tell them I sent you) and order one of his records. BUY LOCAL! If you can’t make it Ranch then by all means use iTunes but don’t miss this guy!